Loay Hisham Nazer
Chairman, NAZER GROUP Co. Ltd, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Loay Hisham Nazer is the founder and Chairman of the Nazer Group. Mr. Nazer started and continues to operate several companies in a variety of businesses including private equity, health insurance, public relations and medical equipment marketing and distribution. He is also the Chairman of Bupa Arabia, a publicly listed company on the Saudi stock exchange that specializes in health insurance. The group operates in Saudi Arabia, and GCC countries and invests across the Middle East and the US. Mr. Nazer has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA, 1987) and received his Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA (1989). In June 2005, Nazer was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Goodwin College in Connecticut, USA.

Mr. Nazer was elected to serve as the Chairman of the International Board of Directors for the year 2006-2007 of the Young Presidents’ Organization, a global non-profit organization of Chairmen and CEOs under the age of 50. He has made lasting impressions on the international organization with such profound contributions as "YPO Making a Difference."

Mr. Nazer was nominated and selected by the World Economic Forum as a member of the Young Global Leaders (YGL), “a community of extraordinary leaders under the age of 40.” In 2010, he became a member of the first class of the Aspen Institute Leadership Fellows in the Middle East and was selected as one of UCLA Anderson’s Business School 100 Inspirational Alumni in the 75 years history of the school. He was also named Chairman of the Jeddah Marketing Board, which is responsible for promoting conferences, exhibitions and tourism in the city.

In 2007, Mr. Nazer was appointed by the Saudi Council of Ministers as a Board member of the Cooperative Council for Health Insurance, the official regulatory body for health insurance in Saudi Arabia, representing the private sector. He is the leading negotiator with the various governmental institutions for the development of the insurance industry in the country. He was re-elected again in 2010 to serve as a member of the Board.

Nazer also served on the Board of Trustees of the Jordan Foundation for Education, which is chaired by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdallah.

Mr. Nazer lectures regionally on globalization and Principled-Decision making. He has been quoted many times in the Western press on issues related to Saudi Arabia and was interviewed on CNN’s Business Today, MSNBC Europe’s Gateway to the Middle East, and was the main guest on “Bridges,” an hour-long Saudi television program designed to improve Saudi-West relations.

Mr. Nazer has three children: Lana (1990), Hisham (1992) and Tan (1997). He enjoys golf, running, biking, basketball, soccer, and many other sports.

Wafic Faraj
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), AMCO

Wafic Faraj joins AMCO as CEO after an extensive and distinguished career in a variety of markets in the MENA Region. With particular expertise in sales and marketing, Wafic is a well rounded CEO with a demonstrated record of high achievement throughout his career, particularly in high growth businesses. His focus on operational excellence and quality will undoubtedly lead AMCO to an even higher level of customer service and commitment to quality in the Saudi health care market.



 

Tal Nazer
Managing Director, BUPA Arabia


Holding an MBA from THE WHARTON SCHOOL, Pennsylvania, USA (Finance and Buyouts, May 2001) and a BA in Economics from UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES, (UCLA, California, USA, Dec 1996), Tal Nazer is currently the Managing Director of BUPA Middle East, a leading private medical insurer based in Saudi Arabia.

He was previously the Customer Service & Operations Director of the company, driving it to its current premier position by focusing on streamlined operations and high levels of customer satisfaction.

Tal worked previously as the Structured Finance Manager for National Commercial Bank. He also worked as an associate for ORYX CAPITAL, (Illinois, USA) after taking part in the MERRILL LYNCH, (London, UK) Executive training program.

Tal enjoys strong ties to the business community in Saudi Arabia, currently holding the following positions: Board Member, Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry Insurance Committee; Board Member, National Centre for Health Insurance Standards; Vice Chairman, Nazer Group; and Board Member, Arabian Medical Marketing Co. Ltd.

 

MOHAMED A. AL AYED
President & CEO, TRACCS & Arab Conferences Company

Mohamed A. Al Ayed is a Saudi national from Hail who has established himself as one of the leading practitioners of public relations in the Middle East. Al Ayed began his career in 1992 as a Public Relations Officer for Saudi Arabian Marketing and Refining Company (SAMAREC - now Saudi Aramco). In 1994 he joined the country’s first dedicated public relations company as a media relations officer/account executive rising quickly to become Group Accounts Director. During his tenure at this company he developed systems and procedures for serving clients as well as organizing and implementing recruitment and training of Saudi account executives, virtually pioneering the field of commercial PR in Saudi Arabia.

In 1998 he founded Saudi Creative Communications Services (SACCS) with 3 leading clients. Later in 2001, Al Ayed became the President & CEO of Trans-Arabian Creative Communications Services (TRACCS), expanding the Saudi based company into a new PR network for the Middle East, which currently has ten offices across the Middle East. In 2005 Al Ayed founded Arab Conferences Company, Saudi Arabia's first dedicated and specialized conferences organizer. Being an active spokesperson on public relations issues, he spoke at the ICCO conference held in Prague, IPRA Conferences that were held in Dubai and Cairo and delivered a keynote speech on the PR Congress held in Dubai. Al Ayed had conducted various media training for top executives of leading companies across the region.

A believer and practitioner of Corporate Social Responsibility, Al Ayed organized the first CSR Forum in the Kingdom and also chaired the first CSR Conference held in Kuwait. He is also a member of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), the International Association of Business Leaders (IABL), and was also re-elected as the Director of the Western Province for the IPRA’s Arabian Gulf Chapter.

Mohamed Al Ayed took a high honors degree in Modern Languages with minors in French and Spanish, from Eastern Oregon State University in the USA in 1991. He was honored with many awards including the University’s most outstanding foreign language student. He is fluent in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish and proficient in German.
 

Ahmed Fuad Nazir
Managing Director, STARC

Ahmed Fuad Nazir, Managing Director, joined STARC in 2004 as a partner after spending over 14 years in investment banking and private equity. He worked previously at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Saudi International Bank and Bahrain International Bank in New York, London, Riyadh and Bahrain. He has served as a board member on several private and listed companies including a listed company providing services to the oil & gas sectors. He holds a BA (Hons) from Harvard University and an MBA from Columbia University.